Arc wandering is also known as Arc blow

Arc blow can cause a number of welding problems including excessive spatter, incomplete fusion and porosity.
Occurs in DC arc welding when the arc stream does not follow the shortest path between the electrode and the
workpiece and deflects forward or backward from the direction of travel or, less frequently, to one side.

Where it majorly found?

Back blow occurs when welding toward the workpiece connection, the end of a joint or into a corner. Forward
blow occurs when welding away from the workpiece connection, or at the starting end of the joint.

Be aware of the relationship of arc blow to weldment fixturing. Steel fixtures may effect the magnetic field
around the arc, and may become magnetized over time.

Here are some fixture-design tips:

Design fixtures for welding the longitudinal seam of cylinders with a minimum of 1-in. clearance between the
supporting beam and the work. Use nonmagnetic clamping fingers or workholding bars. Do not attach the workpiece
cable to the copper backup bar make the work connection directly to the workpiece.

Fabricate the fixture from low-carbon steel to prevent buildup of permanent magnetism in the fixture.

Weld toward the closed end of horn-type fixtures to reduce back blow.

Design the fixture long enough so that end tabs can be used.

Do not use a copper strip inserted in a steel bar for a backing. The steel part of the backup bar will increase arc blow.

Provide for continuous or close clamping of parts to be seam welded. Wide, intermittent clamping may cause seams
to gap between clamping points, causing arc blow over the gaps.

Do not build into the fixture large masses of steel on one side of the seam only; counterbalance with a similar mass
on the opposite side of the fixture.

Problem Areas
Arc blow is especially problematic in the corners of fillet welds and in weld joints that use deep weld
preparations. Here, the cause of arc blow is the same as when welding a straight seamflux concentration and the
movement of the arc to relieve it. Figs.(below) illustrate where arc blow, when using DC current, is problematic.
 The use of AC current markedly reduces the likelihood of arc blow. The rapid reversal of the AC current induces
eddy currents in the base metal, and the fields created by the eddy currents greatly reduce the strength of the magnetic
fields that cause arc blow.

Arc bow also found with

1. Thermal Arc Blow
2. Arc Blow with Multiple-Arc Welding

Factors affecting arc blow

A range of factors are responsible for the presence and strength of magnetism within materials. The most significant
are listed as follows.

1. The Earth's Magnetic Field

This becomes particularly important when pipelines or structures are laid in a North/South direction rather than
East/West. The effect can also be greater as the length of the pipeline increases. Although the Earth's magnetic
field is less than 0.1mT, this can become concentrated to a much greater value by steel alloys.

2. Material Magnetism can become a problem in materials with a ferrite crystal structure. This microstructure
produces ferromagnetism which is found mainly in alloys with iron, nickel, or cobalt including steels but excluding
most stainless steels. Arc blow is frequently encountered when welding steels with a high nickel content.

3. Weld preparation the magnetic field in a weld preparation is higher where the two butting faces are close
together. Therefore, magnetic arc blow tends to be worse at the root of a weld where the gap between the faces
is at its smallest. It is also more of a problem in deeper, narrower V preps where the arc has to travel farther in
the proximity of the faces of the preparation.

4. Presence of longitudinal seams Where tubes have been manufactured using longitudinal welds, there can be a
high magnetic field associated with the seams. Often, magnetism which is directed North on one side of the seam
becomes strongly South on the other side. The location of these seams therefore causes particular difficulties
when circumferential butt welds are attempted, since the welding arc will be deflected in one direction as the
welder approaches the seam and will be abruptly deflected in the opposite direction as soon as the seam is passed
by.

5. D.C. Welding current

D.C. welding current tends to cause or intensify magnetic fields within steel whereas A.C. welding currents are
much less prone to this. Where the magnetism in steel is produced entirely by the effect of the welding current,
then switching to A.C. should be considered if that is possible.
 6. Assembly of components When the magnetic field is measured at the end of a standalone tube or other
components, this will be much lower than when tube ends are butted together. The strength of the magnetism
normally increases, often by a factor of 10, when the pipes are assembled for welding.

7. Welding process. Magnetic arc blow is more likely to occur with lower voltage arcs. Therefore TIG welding which
uses a low voltage arc, and which is often used for the root pass of multi-pass welds, is particularly susceptible to
arc blow. Manual metal arc welding using small diameter electrodes also calls for low currents and voltages
resulting in a tendency to arc blow. Where possible, it is advisable to "stiffen" the welding arc by increasing the
current and hence the welding voltage.

8. Magnetic particle inspection Tubes which have been subjected to magnetic particle inspection can retain
magnetism which subsequently contributes to the problems of arc blow.

9. Magnetic clamps these can be used to lift steel components, or to attach items to a steel surface. They tend to
leave magnetic patches in the steel which may contribute towards the residual magnetism in the joint region.

10. Large structures Large structures such as those where pipes are used to link large vessels as frequently found
in a refinery or chemical reactor are prone to becoming magnetic, particularly where the pipes are linking
structures on the north of a site to those on the south. This occurs because large steel structures pull in the Earth's
magnetic field and this becomes concentrated in the pipes which link the main parts together. Magnetic fields of
several thousand gauss have been measured in pipes in these locations. Pipework being assembled or repaired
under these conditions is very susceptible to magnetic arc blow.

11. Hyperbaric welding Hyperbaric welding carried out with high ambient gas pressures is more prone to arc blow
than welding at atmospheric pressure. This is because the electrons which make up the welding arc are slowed
down by the high gas pressure allowing the arc more time to be deflected by any magnetic field which may be
present.

How to Reduce Arc Blow

How to Reduce Arc Blow Not all arc blow is detrimental. In fact, a small amount helps form the bead shape,
control molten slag and control penetration. But arc blow must be controlled when it contributes to defects such as
undercut, inconsistent penetration, crooked beads, beads of irregular width, porosity, wavy beads and excessive
spatter.

Possible corrective measures include the following:

If DC current is being used with the SMAW processespecially at welding current greater than 250 ampschange
to AC current.

Hold as short an arc as possible to help arc force counteract arc blow.Reduce the welding current. This may require
an arc-speed reduction.

Angle the electrode with the work opposite to the direction of arc blow (Fig. Below).
 Make a heavy tack weld on both ends of the seam; apply frequent tack welds along the seam, especially if fitup is
loose.

Weld toward a heavy tack weld or toward a previously made weld.

Use a backstep welding technique (Fig. Below).

Weld away from the workpiece connection to reduce back blow, and weld toward the workpiece connection to
reduce forward blow.

If welding produces heavy slag, a small amount of back blow is desirable, and is attained by welding toward the
workpiece connection.

Wrap the work cable around the workpiece so that the current returning to the power supply passes through it in
such a direction that the magnetic field setup neutralizes the magnetic field causing the arc blow.